Press Release, 09.02.2023

Photo: Miass / Photo by Alexei Petrov, Wikimedia Commons

The regional council of the Chelyabinsk regional branch of the Yabloko party addressed the Governor of the region and deputies of the Miass city about the inadmissibility of liquidating local self-government in the Chelyabinsk region.

The reason for the address was the start of the so-called “pilot project” for the liquidation of municipal control and accounting bodies, which they decided to start with Miass.

Without any public hearings or other consideration of public opinion, local deputies simply liquidated one of the local self-government bodies, transferring its functions to the upper level – the region.

The independence of local self-government is one of the basic constitutional rights of citizens. The European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified by Russia, obliges the state to ensure the political, administrative and financial independence of local self-government.

According to Russian Federal Law No 131, changing of the structure of local self-government, which includes the control and accounting bodies, is possible only by amending the charter of the municipality. Such changes must be submitted to a public hearing.

At the same time, the decision of the representative body of the municipality to change the structure of local self-government bodies should come into force only after the expiration of the term of office of the body that made the said decision.

The term of office of the Miass Assembly of Deputies has not expired yet, public hearings on amending the Charter have not been held, but such a decision has already entered into force.

The Regional Council of Yabloko demands to cancel the decision, as well as to stop the implementation of the “pilot project” without including and taking into account the opinions of the residents of the region.